Gretel
Gretel is a supporting character in the fantasy book series "Fairest", and a main character of the spin-off instalment "Fairest Witch-Hunters: The Hunt for Baba Yaga", both created by Fabian De Sousa and illustrated by drachenmagier. She debuts in the first instalment of the series. Alongside her brother, Gretel is named after and heavily based on the titular character from the German fairy tale "Hansel & Gretel" by the Brothers Grimm, as well as the Russian-version of the "Brother & Sister" fairy tale: "Sister Alionushka, Brother Ivanushka/Сестра Алинушка, брат Иванушка". History Gretel (and her brother Hansel) were abandoned by their impoverished parents in the Enchanted Forest with nothing but a piece of bread each. Hansel had the crafty idea of creating a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way home, however, wild birds ate the trail, leaving the Brother & Sister lost, cold and hungry. While wandering the Enchanted Forest, the two children find a house made of gingerbread and candy, with windowpanes of clear sugar, and are lured inside by the evil Blind Witch who lives there, promising them more candies and warm beds. & Gretel meeting the Blind Witch of the gingerbread house, illustration by drachenmagier.]] The Blind Witch quickly reveals her true intentions, caging Hansel and force-feeding him to fatten him up, while forcing Gretel to clean and work for her. The Blind Witch eventually orders Gretel to start the oven and lean in to check if it's hot enough, but Gretel pretends not to know how. The Blind Witch demonstrates, and while she is half-inside the oven, Hansel uses a chicken bone to pick the lock of his cage and escape, and both Hansel & Gretel push the Blind Witch into her own oven to be burned alive. Curious as to what else is inside the Blind Witch's home, Hansel & Gretel search until they find the evil witch's spell-book and dark tools, and they vow to hunt and slay witches for the rest of their lives so the same misfortunes won't befall any other children. Hansel & Gretel then grown up to become the best witch-hunters the Enchanted Forest has ever seen, with Gretel using the Blind Witch's spell-book to counter their evil magic, and Hansel using weapons to physically fight witches and their familiars/guardians. Fairest (Book One) Years later, the now adult Hansel & Gretel are the second (and third) fairy tale heroes Snow White and Prince Charming recruit to help stop the Evil Queen and her Cabal of fairy tale villains from destroying happy endings. They first appear near the home of Frau Trude in the western swamplands of the Enchanted Forest, in time to rescue the Fairest princess and prince from the swamp witch's three guardians. Hansel & Gretel prove instrumental in de-powering and slaying Frau Trude, and are quick to accept Snow White and Prince Charming's offer to band together with other fairy tale heroes to defeat the Cabal of villains. Later when the team is gathered for the first time, Gretel points out the contradiction of a monster-hunter (Red Riding Hood) wearing an enchanted red-hooded cloak that repels monsters, while Red Riding Hood points out the contradiction of a witch-hunter (Gretel) using a witch's spell book to combat evil witches' spells and curses. When the team of heroes are pitted against the Cabal of villains, Hansel & Gretel intend to slay Dame Gothel (the last evil witch still living in the Enchanted Forest, whose door-less tower they could never find). Gretel proves a match for Dame Gothel, but is unable to defeat the witch without the help of her brother, who is tied up by Rumpelstiltskin with enchanted golden string. Later, Hansel is freed by Gretel in time for the two of them to slay Dame Gothel but not before Gretel's spell-book (originally owned by the Blind Witch in the gingerbread house) is destroyed. At the end of "Fairest (Book One)" when the fairy tale heroes are going their separate ways, Hansel & Gretel thank Snow White and Prince Charming for helping them find and slay Dame Gothel, and mention their plans to travel to other fairy tale lands and continue hunting witches, before leaving on horseback. Fairest II: East of the Sun & West of the Moon When Red Riding Hood sets out to slay the Sea Witch (from "The Little Mermaid"), she recruits the help of witch-hunters Hansel & Gretel, having managed to send a message to them before they left the Enchanted Forest. Gretel uses a spell to summon Lorelei's five older mermaid sisters to take them to the Sea Witch's lair. During the fight, the Sea Witch slashes Gretel across the stomach with a magic dagger, leaving her out of the fight as she uses a spell to heal herself while Hansel and Red Riding Hood battle the Sea Witch, who transforms into a multi-tentacled Kraken-like sea-monster. The Sea Witch is ultimately de-powered by a recovered Gretel, and killed by a sword to the heart by Red Riding Hood. Returning to the Enchanted Forest, Hansel & Gretel part ways with Red Riding Hood, revealing their plans to leave the Enchanted Forest and travel to the Realm of Rus (home of the Russian fairy tales) to hunt and slay the most powerful evil witch of fairy tales: Baba Yaga.